Other mistake: In the opening boat chase in Venice, the safe is supposedly represented by a metal pipe structure covered by cloth. But it doesn't flap or wave in the wind at all. On the contrary it has completely straight sides. It is quite clear that there must be a box underneath. (00:10:00)
Bishop73
8th Sep 2013
The Italian Job (2003)
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Suggested correction: It may seem like that, in actuality there is a military grade fabric Lycra-Kevline that does not buckle or wave like ordinary fabrics.
This correction seems to have been made without watching the scene and understanding the mistake. Plus I think they meant to say "Kevlar." But, whatever material they're thinking of wouldn't behave like a solid piece of wood by not moving in the wind. And, the material wouldn't magically make rounded corners straight edged.
9th Jun 2020
Falling Down (1993)
Corrected entry: During the golf course scene watch the guy clutching his chest having a heart attack. He clutches the right side instead of the left.
Correction: It should also be pointed out that the clutching of the left side in a dramatic fashion is a Hollywood thing. Your heart is located in the center of your chest with just a small part of the heart on the left side, so often the pain will be in the center of the chest and radiate out.
Correction: There's no mistake here. He's having a heart attack. He's panicked and clutching his chest. There's no rule that you have to clutch the exact right spot on your chest while having a heart attack.
22nd Jan 2004
Jaws 2 (1978)
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Chief Brody comes home drunk, Deputy Hendricks comes over to express his sorrows. When he's leaving/already left, Both Ellen & Chief Brody comment on Hendricks as "Poor Jeff." In the first Jaws film, Brody calls him Lenny. Jeff is actually the first name of the actor who played Hendricks.
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Suggested correction: It was a retcon from the filmmakers. Originally his name was Lenny, and then they changed it to Jeff. Same thing with The Mayor's children in the first movie. In the sequel, he only has one son; Larry Jr.
Not really a retcon, simply a mistake. Not every change, intentional or not, can be hand-waved away as a retcon.
The correction is valid. The person who submitted the mistake didn't watch the scene. They never said "poor Jeff", it was "poor Hendricks." But both Martin and Ellen call him "Jeff" in the scene and his name is said 3 times. Plus, if you read over the original script, the name "Jeff Hendricks" is mentioned 4 times.
8th Nov 2004
Airplane (1980)
Revealing mistake: When the plane crashes through the glass at the beginning of the movie, you can't see any wings on the plane. (00:04:30)
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Suggested correction: Wings don't sprout out of a plane's nose. They would be significantly further back on the fuselage and out of sight.
Except you can see on either side of the nose, there's nothing blocking the view of the wings. There's no way for them to be so far back that you couldn't see them.
21st May 2020
Common mistakes
Factual error: In movie plots that take place hundreds or even thousands of years ago, the characters have perfectly white, straight teeth. It is a known fact that Queen Elizabeth I was virtually toothless by age 40. Good dental hygiene didn't really exist until after WWII. Some movies get it right, but only for the bad guys.
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Suggested correction: False teeth have been around for centuries; they could be made from a variety of materials including wood, porcelain, or even human teeth taken from corpses or people who willingly sold their teeth to make some quick cash. People with the means to do so could acquire them quite easily, and they were often indistinguishable from a person's own natural teeth.
Your reasoning is very weak. Yes, false teeth have been around for centuries, but even today with much better technology, with close observation you can tell someone has false teeth. Everyone knew G. Washington had false teeth. No, these characters from 500 years ago are not ALL wearing false teeth.
Australian Aboriginals have (had, before colonization) almost perfectly white, straight teeth and it's known that this is somehow related with their foraging diet. If it's true, then most people back ago could have almost perfect teeth too.
Furthermore, widespread tooth decay before great age was only a rich person's problem until refined sugar became cheap, so the peasants wouldn't have bad teeth either.
Tooth decay is not caused by refined sugars. Any carbohydrates will promote bacterial growth, which can cause tooth decay. Additionally acidic food and drinks and alcohol (which can be high in carbohydrates) can damage the teeth and promote bacterial growth. And the mistake is talking about movies in general with countless characters, not a few select characters with significant means.
Thanks for your response. You said it better than I could have.
I mostly agree with you, but I am talking about characters who are rich with perfectly white teeth (and more importantly) great gums - no recession. What I disagree is that only sugar causes teeth decay. Not true. Virtually all food breaks down into simple sugars with enzymes in your saliva.
14th Aug 2020
Frequency (2000)
Factual error: A ham radio requires the person to hold down the button while talking. Numerous times in the movie they are talking without pushing the button.
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Suggested correction: This is actually subtly addressed in the film. The magic which allows the radio to work across time also allows the two men to speak without pressing the button. There is a moment where Frank wonders what is going on with the radio and presses the button a few times to talk but then notices that he doesn't have to press the button to be heard.
If that was true, then it wouldn't make sense for them to continue to show Frank and John hitting the squawk bar throughout the film.
That is a separate issue. The mistake entry states that you need to hold the button to talk on a ham radio, which is true, but the magic ham radio in the film doesn't require it. If the actors continue to occasionally press the button that could be considered a character mistake but it could also simply be a force of habit by the characters.
5th Oct 2006
Mama's Family (1983)
Corrected entry: In this episode when talking to Fran, Mama states, "I used to iron with my right hand, mash potatoes with my left, with four screaming kids under me." However, Mama only had three kids on the show: Vint, Unice, and Ellen. Where did the fourth kid come from?
Correction: It's an exaggeration implying that she worked herself to the bone taking care of them as kids. (Research "Uphill Both Ways In The Snow To School" for a classic example).
It could have been Iola because she hung out at their house when she was a little girl.
The mistake isn't about her exaggerating, it's about her not knowing how many kids she had. She only had 3 kids and there's nothing to indicate she was raising someone else's kid, and the show never mentions some unnamed son out west.
She has Phillip as well? Just never in the dream sequences, which is odd to me.
Correction: She had another child, a son out west.
I don't ever remember this being said.
26th Mar 2002
Ghostbusters 2 (1989)
Corrected entry: The film takes a large liberty when portraying the Titanic. The Titanic we see is complete with a huge hole in one side. The real sinking was nothing like this with small gashes made along the front of the ship, which eventually split in two. There was no large gaping hole like that made when she hit the iceberg. The Titanic was found four years before the film was made, so it was known at that time what condition the Titanic was in. (01:20:35)
Correction: It's a ghost ship, so I think we can forgive them for this, just like the ghost train in the subway scene, because it was a steam engine, which never would be in a subway tunnel like that.
This isn't a valid correction. The ghost train appearing on the subway tracks is different and had nothing to do with the way the Titanic ghost ship looked.
They are both ghost vessels, not the actual machines, it is understandable that they will look different on the etheric plane.
They aren't the actual machines sure, but there isn't any reason why a ghost ship would pick a physical appearance with severe damage that is in a different spot from the original. The explanation is not in 'the etheric plane' but in poor research (not that in a movie like this matters) or the fact that it simply is more impactful visually to show that sort of gaping hole. It is a factual error even if we understand very well why it was made - call it Deliberate Mistake if you will.
The people are the ghosts, not the ship. The ship never picked the appearance. One can assume the ghosts made the Titanic alongside themselves, from memory. Since the victims never actually saw the damage, this is what they thought it looked like.
We don't know who picked the appearance of the Titanic or the ghost train and how any of the 'supernatural' works, other than the end result is factually inaccurate. There's no reason to try to find metaphysical justifications for a clear creative liberty the art department took without giving it a second thought. Which is exactly what the original poster said; "The film takes a large liberty when portraying the Titanic."
It's just a matter of opinion whether they are allowed to take that liberty or not. If they did it intentionally, it's not a mistake.
The thing is, 99% of Factual Errors in movies are very likely to be liberties taken for convenience of the plot or better visual impact (like I said, Titanic=big hole in the hull from iceberg, the audience instantly makes that mental association and feels more real than reality). That's why as long as the observation is accurate and not strikingly obvious (such as "ghosts don't exist") I wouldn't try to read the intent in it too much.
11th Nov 2017
Atomic Blonde (2017)
Corrected entry: In quite a few shots there are Hummer H1s which only started production in 1992. This film is set in 1989.
Correction: While the Hummer H1 began production in 1992, that was just the civilian model of the HMMVV (Humvee) which began production in 1984 by AM General. What is in the film isn't an H1. And if anyone tries to sell you a 1989 Hummer H1, they don't know what they're talking about or are lying.
15th Jul 2008
Frasier (1993)
Match Game - S11-E18
Corrected entry: The younger girl that Frasier goes on a date with has to be 20 years old or younger, since she mentions that cops took a fake ID from her (she wouldn't need a fake one if she were 21). Isn't it unlikely that someone that age would have been able to pay the $10,000 fee for Charlotte's dating service?
Correction: As Guy said, Charlottle was finding random women for dates. Also, it is not impossible that a twenty-year-old would have $10,000. Inheritance, lawsuit settlement, lottery ticket, large gift from a family member, a savings account that a parent once opened for her (which she might be able to access now because she is past the age of eighteen), etc.
6th Aug 2017
Santa Clarita Diet (2017)
The Farting Sex Tourist - S1-E4
Stupidity: Joel finds prints in Serbian and is stressed because they'll never find someone to translate Serbian in Santa Clarita, goes to great lengths to interact with the principal's Serbian grandmother, etc. Google translate can understand Serbian just fine, but this doesn't even occur to him.
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Suggested correction: Except the 16th century Serbian alphabet isn't available to most people to type into google translate. Plus the script used makes it difficult to distinguish which character is which sometimes even if you could find characters to cut and paste tediously into google translate.
13th Mar 2020
Wall-E (2008)
Character mistake: Captain McCrea tells the passengers that it's the 700th anniversary of the Axiom's first flight. The Axiom has been in flight for 255,642 days. Actually, 700 years is 255,675 days. That figure includes the additional day in 175 leap years.
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Suggested correction: Leap years only occur because of the earth's rotation around the sun. As the AXIOM is in space, there is no need to correct for the earth's rotation.
First, rotation is the spin of the Earth (which cause day and night). Revolution is the earth orbiting the sun (which causes years). However, this correction is not valid on the premise you're trying to present. Many films set in space still use Earth time, so a day is 24-hours, even though they're in space and there is no sunrise and sunset (although it's stated the Axiom operates on a 25-hour day). So they would use Earth's year, which takes 365.256 days. Since the Axiom isn't orbiting the Sun, it wouldn't experience a year, so they're using something else. The fact that they're slightly off suggests it's a writing mistake and there's no evidence they use an arbitrary 365.203 day year.
14th Aug 2020
Downsizing (2017)
Corrected entry: Paul gets put to sleep before the shaving process yet his wife doesn't? No consistency since she somehow opted out of the shrinking procedure mid shave. Wouldn't she be asleep too?
Correction: Paul, and all the guys seen, gets his head and eyebrows shaved BEFORE getting the injection and being put under. Audrey changes her mind before they finish shaving her eyebrows, when she wouldn't have been put under yet.
30th Aug 2005
The Neverending Story (1984)
Corrected entry: Morla tells Atreyu that the Southern Oracle is 10,000 miles away. When Atreyu wakes up at Engywook and Urgl's house, Falcor tells him he has brought him 9,891 miles towards the Oracle. Then we see Atreyu walk from the house to the Oracle in only a matter of minutes, as Engywook watches him through the telescope. But he should still be 109 miles away - there's no way he could walk that far that fast.
Correction: While the 10,000 miles was accurate, Atreyu even asks if Falcor took him the whole 10,000 miles, that's the distance he would have had to travel on foot. Generally when people talk about how far away something is, they're talking about the distance they have to travel, which is rarely in a straight line. Falcor says, he only took 9,891 miles, but then adds "as the dragon flies." This is the same as saying "as the crow flies." New York to Los Angeles might only be 2,450 miles apart, "as the crow flies", but the distance you drive might be 2,900 miles. That means Atreyu was lucky that he got to travel in a straight line.
Correction: Morla is rounding up - it sounds better (and more imposing) to say "10,000 miles" than "9,896 miles exactly". Besides, this is a medieval fantasy setting. Accurate measuring by surveyors is not something that is usually done. Most people would deal in estimates, Falcor seems to be the exception to this.
Correction: The gold sphinx pair are not the Southern Oracle - they're the first gate to the Oracle. The Southern Oracle are the blue sphinx pair. Atreyu passes through two gates on the way there, with numerous cuts in between. The second gate has a blizzard going on whereas the weather is clear at the first gate and Oracle. Hence, it's reasonable to assume there's some distance between the two gates and the Oracle.
31st Dec 2007
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Corrected entry: When Augustus Gloop's parents are interviewed, the father eats the end of the microphone, but the announcer goes on to ask the mother a question with the mic still intact.
Correction: There are two different reporters in the scene, both with their own mics. The first one we see at the beginning, who does the intro about Augustus, is wearing a black coat and blue shirt. The reporter that asks the first question to Augustus is a different reporter, he's in an olive coat and red scarf. Then the first reporter talks to Mr. Goop and has his mic bitten, you can tell because of the black coat and blue shirt. Then the second reporter, with the red scarf, then asks Mrs. Goop a question.
Correction: Given that there are only five golden tickets in the world, it is likely that a location where someone found one, would attract multiple reporters. It was a different mic for Augustus' mother than his father. The reporters do sound the same, but who are we to say that they were the same. They could have been just similar.
10th Aug 2020
The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)
Corrected entry: Early in the film, when Frank is at the bar (The Blue Note), he orders a Black Russian, however (less than 30 seconds later) the waiter brings him a drink that is definitely not a Black Russian. (00:18:30 - 00:19:05)
Correction: The whole scene was a series of gags. The waiter was able to produce the strong man in seconds. The fact he got a random fruity drink so quickly was just another gag.
10th Aug 2020
Batman: The Animated Series (1992)
The Man Who Killed Batman - S1-E49
Corrected entry: It's never revealed how Batman saved Sidney from the vat of acid.
Correction: Sidney is telling his own story and doesn't know how he got saved. He said he must have been sucked down a drainpipe. Later when he finds out Batman saved him, he doesn't ask any follow up questions. The fact that it's never revealed has nothing to do with the plot and it's not a mistake.
Correction: Something not being explained is not a plot hole, nor is it any other kind of mistake. Batman, among many other things, is a ninja and an escape artist. We as the audience understand that he has the capability to rescue Sid the Squid from his predicament, and taking time to explain how he did it would just eat up screen time in what is only a 22-minute episode.
29th Nov 2003
The Simpsons (1989)
Lisa's Pony - S3-E8
Corrected entry: When Homer falls asleep in the car, he hits the dashboard with his fist, and the airbag pops out. If you watch in slow motion though, he doesn't hit anything at all. (00:19:30)
28th Jul 2020
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Visible crew/equipment: While the T-1000 drives the trailer, in front of him the camera crew is visible on a pick up truck.
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Suggested correction: Entry not specific enough.
How is this not specific enough?
For one, there's more than one chase scene involving a truck in this movie. This entry doesn't specify which one. Nor does he specify if we see the camera crew itself or simply a reflection of the crew on the vehicle.
I think he is referring to a truck seen just before the Freightliner runs the stop sign and hits the brown and dark blue cars. The "camera" truck though looks like it has trash cans in the back, not a film crew, at least nothing that I can see in the 1080p version to indicate it is a film crew. The reverse shot of the collision if from a fixed position camera close to the cars so wasn't shot from a truck, so again no evidence this is a film crew truck.
17th Sep 2015
Von Ryan's Express (1965)
Factual error: Sergeant Bostick tells Colonel Ryan he is from the 113th Armored Division. The U.S. Army never had a 113th Armored Division in WW2.
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Suggested correction: Is this actually an error? I believe the British Regiment who feature in this film are The Ninth Fusiliers. Well, there never has been a Ninth Fusiliers in the British army, either! For that matter, there never was a Colonel Joseph L Ryan, or a Major Eric Fincham, or a Major Battaglia. While this film is set in the Second World War, it is openly admitted that it is a wholly fictional story. Some Second World War films (A Bridge Too Far; The Longest Day; The Battle Of the Bulge) were made to recreate historical events, and so refer to soldiers and military units who existed. Other Second World War films like this one (Sahara, Escape To Victory, Ice Cold In Alex) while referencing actual events, and, showing sequences of events that are not beyond probability, are still stories. Since this is a fictional, imagined story, is it acceptable for soldiers to serve with fictional regiments or imaginary fighting units?
While some fictional accounts can be taken for granted and not counted as errors (even films based on true stories can have fictional characters), there are limits when setting films in the past. To have a 113th Armored Division is a valid mistake as the highest number in WWII was the 20th Armored Division, unlike Infantry Divisions that went into the 100's. This could almost be the same as giving a character an 8 or 11 number phone number.
The anonymous drive by hit and run "contributor" (not referring to you, Bishop73) may not have seen another post I made about Sgt. Bostick wearing a 4th Armored Division patch on his uniform: he says he is from the 113th A.D. (which never existed) but wears the 4th A.D. patch, which did exist in WW2, but did not see service until France in 1944.
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